I'm so sorry
by Darev
Summary: What happened to Jeremie and Aelita after the others left the hermitage? This is the conclusion to my CL oneshot series. Possibly a prequel as well.


**Author: This is the last of my CL oneshots. Finally we've come to the Jeremie/Aelita perspective of the story which I know a lot of people have been begging me for. Well here it is, I hope I do your anticipations justice.

* * *

**

"It has to be a trick. No way Franz got out of Lyoko in time before Xana deleted it." Ulrich's comment fell on deaf ears as all attention was focused on Jeremie who was working on his laptop. "Hey! Did any of you guys hear me? Xana's feeding us faulty information. Don't fall for it."

Odd looked over his shoulder at Ulrich. "And why would Xana do that? He's already kicked our ass, taken possession of William and destroyed the Heart of Lyoko. As far as he's concerned we're no threat."

"He's right, Ulrich." Now it was Yumi's turn. "Right now there's no way we could possibly fight Xana. He's free to roam the Internet at will."

"Which means we can't do a damn thing to stop him." Odd continued. "He's probably forgotten all about us right now. Besides, Jeremie would know if it's a fake. Ain't that right, Einstein?"

Einstein was Odd's nickname for the young genius that was Jeremie Belpois. It was an accurate description as Jeremie was an intellectual prodigy at Kadic Academy, receiving some of the highest grades in the school's history. He was the brains of the group, the guy that came up with all the strategies and plans for their war against Xana. He always had an answer for everything and could figure out a counter to all of Xana's ploys.

Jeremie was sitting on the rugged old couch that was left abandoned in the Hermitage living room. His face was stern as his eyes scanned the screen before him. Jeremie stopped momentarily to fix his glasses. "Nope. This is definitely the real deal." He looked up. "This message was sent from Franz Hopper via the Internet. Somehow he managed to escape before Lyoko was deleted."

"If we had more time we would have been able to virtualize him." Aelita stated. A heavy sadness overtook her. If Jeremie was the brains of the outfit then Aelita was the heart. She had brought them all together as a team and as friends. Without her, none of them would be here right now. The only person missing from her life now was Franz Hopper, her father and the creator of Lyoko. He was Xana's sworn enemy and the reason he destroyed the virtual world in the first place. So long as he lived he was a threat to the malevolent super virus and the only thing preventing it from destroying the world.

"I'm sorry, Aelita." Jeremie said. "I tried my best but Xana was just too strong. He's always been two steps ahead of me."

"Don't beat yourself up, Jeremie. We're the ones who've been getting our butts handed to us every time we fight him." Yumi said. "If anyone's to blame it's us." She shook her head. "No. I'm sorry. It's my fault."

"Come again?" Odd asked.

"I'm the one that suggested we bring William into the group. If it hadn't been for him Lyoko would still be around and Franz Hopper would be here with us." Her hands clenched into vengeful fists. "I was so stupid to trust him. That jerk!"

"We all trusted him." Aelita said. "He betrayed all of us, Yumi, not just you."

"I'd love to get my hands on the bum." Odd punched his fist into his palm. "Teach him a thing or two about backstabbing your friends."

"He was never my friend. I knew he was trouble from day one."

Yumi flashed Ulrich a suggestive glare. "Is that the only reason?"

Embarrassed, Ulrich turned away. "Of course. What else would there be?"

Yumi sighed and crossed her arms before turning back to Jeremie. Aelita and Odd exchanged exasperated glances as this was nothing new. Ulrich and Yumi obviously had it bad for one another but were too dumb-and stubborn-to do anything about it. Too often their on again/off again relationship hampered the team's effectiveness and even more often aggravated the hell out of the others. If they were to just put their differences aside they would make a great couple. But try telling that to the two most prideful people any of them had ever met.

"William was under Xana's control. Need I remind you that he's done the same thing to each of us on separate occasions. Does that mean we should go pointing fingers at one another every time we screw up? No." Jeremie eyed each of them before continuing. "William was green and inexperienced, completely unprepared for the world we brought him into. The same could have happened to Jim, or Herb, or Sissi! He was cocky, I'll admit, but haven't we all at one point thought ourselves indestructible? Let me remind each of you that William Dunbar, a living, breathing human being, is no longer with us. While it's easy for us to blame him for everything that's happened it is he that's paid the ultimate price. He's gone. A prisoner of Xana. God only knows what's happened to the poor guy. What will we tell his parents? While not technically dead he just as well may be."

Aelita could see the turmoil in Jeremie's face. He was fighting back tears, she realized. As leader, Jeremie was responsible for each and every one of them. He felt that William's "demise" was on his shoulders and he blamed himself for it. She sat down beside him and placed a hand on a slightly bobbing shoulder. "Jeremie…"

"He's gone. We have no right to pass judgment on him for what's happened. He wasn't ready. We should not have brought him in. I should have," Tears streamed down his eyes and he could no longer speak. Aelita threw her arms around him and began to cry along with him. The others were speechless. They had never thought to think about the repercussions for William. He willingly chose to go to Lyoko. He knew the dangers. Well, maybe he didn't, but he was their responsibility. Who were they to judge him? He was just a kid. Like them. And now he was gone.

"Jeremie, we're sorry." Yumi began. "We didn't mean,"

Jeremie was too far in despair to hear them. He began to convulse with sobs and Aelita turned to the others. The look in her eyes told them everything they needed to know. In silence, Odd, Ulrich and Yumi left the two alone. Aelita put the laptop to the side and returned to hugging Jeremie. She stayed with him through the late hours. He cried and he cried but Aelita never left his side. It's times like these when one needed a true friend. Aelita was all that to Jeremie and more…even though he did not know it.

* * *

Jeremie had stopped crying once the others had left the room. He had never broken down in front of them before and felt that he never would have had Aelita not been there with him. She was his strength when he needed it and despite all that had transpired he knew without a doubt that he would never have to be tough around her. Most girls despised boys like him. Too smart. Too nerd. Not Aelita. She accepted him for what he was. Sure the others cared for him but Odd was too cynical, Ulrich never knew the right thing to say and Yumi thought she was so wise with her age difference and Far-Eastern background that she often thought more with her head than her heart.

But they were gone and Aelita was with him. She would never make him feel alienated. There was no one he would rather be with right now than the girl he had secretly fallen in love with. Not that there was much of a secret, mind you. Even Ulrich, dense as he was, figured that one out.

"They're gone, Jeremie." Aelita said.

"I know." He managed to say after getting his convulsing sobs under control.

"Are you feeling better?" She had to ask.

Jeremie removed his glasses, wiping the tear-stains from his blushing red face. "Not really. I just," He sighed. "I just don't know what to do anymore, Aelita. For the first time in my life…I'm lost."

"And it angers you?"

"More than you realize." He admitted.

"Why is that?"

"Because,"

"Because Jeremie Belpois does not get lost." She finished for him. "Is that it?"

He went silent. Aelita had hit the nail right on the head. Jeremie was not used to anyone being able to read him so well. Most of his life he had been a loner, secluding himself from the social forums. Now here was this girl who, trapped for ten years in a virtual world, having only recently regained all of her memories and who didn't have any friends outside of their little group, suddenly had the brilliant Jeremie Belpois all figured out.

Aelita touched his shoulder. "Jeremie, you shouldn't blame yourself for all this."

"I'm supposed to be the leader."

"You're only human. You make mistakes."

"But if I was a virtual intelligence like Xana I wouldn't have. Is that what you mean?"

She retracted her hand. "Of course not! You're nothing like Xana."

"That's why he won."

"Xana did not win."

"Then I guess all this was just a bump in the road then?" He stood up. "A minor setback." He paced. "Sure we let a malevolent super virus escape onto the Net but that's no problem. We also got our butts handed to us when Xana single-handedly defeated our entire team by possessing a boy who had no business being in Lyoko in the first place. Oh, lest we not forget said boy who is now no longer among us. He is gone and there is no way to bring him back. To top it off, we're no closer to making contact with Franz Hopper than we were when we first discovered his diary and now Xana can strike at us at any time and place and there's not a damn thing we can do to stop him. But hey!" He turned on Aelita. "Always a silver lining, right? Xana didn't win. He just kicked our butts all over cyberspace. We've bounced back before. All we have to do is wait until he takes over a nuclear missile silo and then,"

"Stop it!" Aelita shut her ears. "Stop talking like that."

"Like what?"

"Like someone who has given up all hope."

"There is no hope, Aelita."

"This is not your fault."

"I'm the leader."

"You're just a kid."

"Gee thanks!"

"And so am I!" She finally confronted him face to face. "We can't be expected to do the impossible every time. What we've done, what we're doing, is so important to so many lives even though no one knows it. We are protecting people, Jeremie. Xana wins if we stop doing that."

"And what about William? Who was there to protect him?"

"Let me take the blame for that." Aelita said. "I was with him. Xana took William because I wasn't able to save him in time." She smiled despite her sorrowful words. "You see. You are not the only one who makes mistakes."

"If you're trying to make me feel better it isn't working."

"Then what? You're just going to take all the blame? Haven't Ulrich or Odd or Yumi have made mistakes in the past?"

"Their mistakes don't cost people's lives."

"And how many times have we almost died when Xana's made his forays into the real world?"

"That's different."

"Why? Because if we died then you wouldn't have to take the blame? What are you, the God of Lyoko? Everything that happens there happens on your whim?"

"No."

"Then what is it?"

"It's just…"

"What?" She rushed to his side but he would not look at her. "Tell me, Jeremie."

"I…"

"Out with it!" She blurted out.

"I wish I never activated that damned computer!"

A whimper from Aelita and a gasp from Jeremie followed shortly. What did he just say? Oh no. Aelita.

He turned to her; she was receding with every step backward. "I," she began. "I didn't know I was such a burden to you."

"No. That's not what I,"

"I won't trouble you anymore." Sobbing, Aelita rushed for the door.

"Aelita!" Jeremie called but it was too late. She was gone. Out of his life…possibly forever.

* * *

She had returned to the factory. Never before had it felt so empty. This place had been Aelita's home for a decade; she was more familiar with it than her old house or back at the dormitory with her new friends. But it was different now. This did not feel like home anymore. Aelita Stones-no, Aelita Hopper had no place to call home.

Aelita had come here after her spat with Jeremie. It was more HIS spat but Aelita did not like to point fingers. She didn't want to see him. She did not want to see anyone. Aelita needed time to think and to reflect. Here, in the one place where she felt she once belonged, she would have no disturbances.

"Father, what were you doing?" She asked aloud. Aelita walked around the super computer. This was her father's invention. It was what had started it all. Years ago she had a family. Aelita lived with her parents in their beautiful house. What had happened to her mother was still a mystery but she remembered all too well the day the men in black came to get her father. Franz Hopper did something he wasn't supposed to. Or perhaps, she thought, he didn't do something that he _was_ supposed to. Whatever the reason her life had changed that fateful day. The men chased them. Hopper took his daughter beneath the sewers and toward the factory. There he virtualized them. He and Aelita had become part of Lyoko. He said it would be, "a world without danger", though Aelita and all of her friends discovered how premature that statement had been.

Xana had achieved sentience. He rebelled against her father's programming and sought to destroy him. Hopper placed Aelita in a suspended sleep from which Xana would be unable to find her. Then he disappeared. Whether to fight Xana or lure him away, when the super computer was reactivated so was Aelita. And Xana was waiting.

Aelita awoke with no memory of who she was or how she got in Lyoko. She was a girl with no past. Only through the many battles with Xana and with the aid of her friends was she able to piece together the puzzle that was her past. Now she knew who she was and what was her mission: to destroy Xana and to find her father. Both proved to be nearly impossible tasks. When they came close to uncovering Franz Hopper's location, Xana sent father and daughter even further apart.

"Damn it, daddy. How did I our lives fall apart so?"

The computer screen was alive before her. It displayed a world devoid of anything. Lyoko was long gone. So far gone that no trace of it existed. No one would ever know of its existence. No one would ever know of the brave sacrifices made by a group of kids to save the world. No one would remember the one kid who did not return home.

Hugging her legs, Aelita found herself falling further into despair. "I wish you were here daddy."

Hers ears alerted her to a shrill beeping emitting from the main screen. She looked up to find some activity was occurring in the scanner room beneath her. Almost immediately her hands were on the keyboard, processing the information and asking for more data. The scanners were activated. How? She could not say for neither she nor Jeremie had programmed the devices to do anything since their departure. Could it be…"Xana."

A sting of fear pricked her normally unwavering persona and she suddenly felt even more vulnerable than she had a few moments ago. If Xana were up to something, she would need to contact the others and regroup quickly. Xana did try to pick them off one by one before. Perhaps he was coming after her again. Who knows what kind of abilities he had obtained after breaking the bonds of Lyoko. He was more dangerous than ever before.

"Wait." Her composure came back. She had jumped to conclusions. It was not Xana at all.

"This is Franz Hopper!" She exclaimed. Her father was trying to reach her again. Somehow he had activated the scanners and was trying to make contact with Aelita. Did he mean to come through? Had he somehow eluded Xana and found a way to materialize himself?

One thing was for sure, she had better sound the horn. She punched up Jeremie's number on the computer. "Jeremie."

"Aelita?" He sounded baffled to hear from her again. "Aelita! I'm so sorry…I didn't mean to,"

"Get over to the factory on the double. Franz Hopper is trying to contact us."

"What? Say that again."

"He's activated the scanners. Hurry and get over here. I'm going down there to make sure this is authentic."

"Wait!" Jeremie called. "We should get the others."

"Something is about to happen. It's not like we can return to Lyoko and fight Xana. There's no sense in putting all of our lives in danger." She said. "I have to go. Get here as fast as you can. Maybe we can salvage something out of this disaster afterall." She pulled off the headset even as Jeremie spoke again. Aelita Hopper bypassed the elevator knowing Jeremie would need it on his way down. She instead used the ladder.

At the bottom, Aelita nimbly hopped off and prepared herself for the unexpected. What she found was three scanners and an assortment of wires and cords extending every which way to the ceiling. "Is anyone here?" She found herself asking. As if an enemy would alert himself to her presence. No sooner did she speak, however, when a scanner activated. She readied for an attack but none came. The scanner was empty. No monster. No Xana.

Aelita approached with caution. The scanner seemed to be waiting for her to enter. "I don't understand." She said aloud.

The scanner remained open.

"Father." She began. "Do you want me to enter?"

No answer.

It was Franz Hopper who contacted her. Perhaps he wanted her to go to him. But maybe she should wait for Jeremie. Still, the Call was too strong to ignore. Like an invisible hand it guided her toward the scanner. Aelita was a bit unnerved but unafraid. This was her father. She knew it without a doubt. Should she go on? Yes. She had to. If just to see him again she would brave the unknown. "I…I understand."

Aelita entered the scanner and turned around. The doors slammed shut. Her body was scanned and readied to be transferred to…where was she going? Certainly not Lyoko. It had to be wherever Franz Hopper awaited her. She was going to see her father.

"See you in a minute, daddy." Light engulfed her.

* * *

"I'm such an idiot." Jeremie told himself for the hundredth time. He had done nothing but berate himself ever since Aelita ran away. She was only trying to comfort him and he had to be a jerk and say something stupid. He wouldn't blame Aelita if she never spoke to him again. "I can't believe I said that. It's like saying I wish I had never met her. But having Aelita come into my life is the best thing to have ever happened to me. Without her, I'm nobody. Even Ulrich, Yumi and Odd wouldn't acknowledge me. I only have friends because of her."

He hunched over and buried his fast in his hands. Jeremie was sitting like that when the phone rang. His phone! Reaching over, he found a number he never expected to see. "What?" He hit the on button and brought it up to his ear.

"Jeremie." It was Aelita! Had she forgiven him? Or was she giving him that chance?

"Aelita?" He asked too baffled to think of anything else to say. Then he ranted, "Aelita! I'm so sorry…I didn't mean to,"

"Get over to the factory on the double. Franz Hopper is trying to contact us."

"What? Say that again."

"He's activated the scanners. Hurry and get over here. I'm going down there to make sure this is authentic."

This sounded too good to be true. It must be a trap! "Wait! We should get the others."

"Something is about to happen. It's not like we can return to Lyoko and fight Xana. There's no sense in putting all of our lives in danger." She said. "I have to go. Get here as fast as you can. Maybe we can salvage something out of this disaster afterall."

Jeremie protested but she was already gone. "Aelita! Aelita!" Dammit! She can be so impulsive sometimes. It was the one thing about her that irritated Jeremie to no end.

Belpois wasted no time in getting to the factory. So urgent was his pace that he found himself exhausted and out of breath by the time he had reached the entrance. Shrugging it off, Jeremie swung down to the bottom floor and nearly sprained his ankle. A thousand times before and now when things were this urgent he had to go and almost break his leg!

He pushed for the elevator and when it arrived he almost hammered the "down" button into the wall before it did so. "Was this thing always this slow?"

He went straight for the scanner room. Too late! Jeremie arrived to find one of the scanners was on and working. "Aelita!" He banged the scanner with a fist. "Get out of there! You don't know what's going to happen! Aelita!" No use. Wherever she had gone, she had gone. Cursing, Jeremie went back to the computer room. He hopped into his seat and tried to track Aelita. "What?!" He had never seen such data before. Aelita was…SOMEWHERE.

"This is crazy." He put on the headset. "Aelita, this is Jeremie. Can you hear me?"

"Jeremie?"

"Thank God! Listen, I'm tracking you but your signal is fading. I need you to return to your point of origin else I might lose you."

"I can't do that, Jeremie. Trust me when I say this. I have to keep going."

"Aelita!" Jeremie cried. "This isn't Lyoko. I don't know how to bring you back!"

"I'll find my own way." She said. "I think I see something." She paused. "Yes. Jeremie, I'll call you back."

"You have got to be…no!" He felt like pulling his hair out.

"Damn! I have to try to find her." Jeremie went to work hopping against hope that he wasn't too late.

* * *

Aelita was traveling through some digital void. It was breathtaking-if she had any breath; a black universe filled with white cubes and rectangles and triangles and other geometric shapes. Zeros and ones scrolled by her on multiple highways of information. Aelita flew, or rather was being guided toward the epicenter of this void.

"Aelita, this is Jeremie. Can you hear me?"

"Jeremie?" She instinctively looked around for him but he was nothing but a voice in her head.

"Thank God! Listen, I'm tracking you but your signal is fading. I need you to return to your point of origin else I might lose you."

The Call was getting stronger. Aelita could not ignore it even at the bequest of her friend. "I can't do that, Jeremie." She had to make him understand. "Trust me when I say this. I have to keep going."

"Aelita!" Jeremie cried. "This isn't Lyoko. I don't know how to bring you back!"

"I'll find my own way." She felt herself getting closer to where she needed to be. "I think I see something." A white globe appeared before her. This is it, she realized. "Yes. Jeremie, I'll call you back." She heard his protests but proceeded full speed toward the globe. Once again, she was engulfed in light and when it dissipated…

…She found herself back home. She was in the living room of the house where she had grown up. The fireplace was on as a wintry snow fell outside the window. It wasn't overly lavish but quite comfortable. Aelita stepped forward, catching her reflection on a glass table near a lazy chair. She was still in her human form only she appeared-older!

A young woman with long pink stared back at Aelita. "Huh?" She gasped, jumping back. How had she aged so fast?

"What is gong on?" Her hand went to her mouth. "My voice." It was deeper, sultrier and far less childish. She was an adult now. But how could this be?

Her nose was filled with a wonderful scent. On the table next to the couch she found a plate of some the most delicious cakes and candies. Aelita found herself quite hungry all of a sudden and picked out one that caught her fancy. She bit in and savored the flavor. She knew this pastry. As a child, she enjoyed eating it for a late-night snack. "Sacher!"

"You always had a taste for chocolate."

Turning, Aelita found herself facing the one man she had sought all of her life. "Daddy?"

Franz Hopper stood before her. He looked younger than he did in the videos she had seen him in. His hair was dark and his brown eyes more alert. He wore a beige shirt over black pants and white socks. In all strangeness, he looked not much older than Aelita and yet she knew without a shadow of a doubt this was Franz Hopper.

"Not quite." He said.

Aelita was confused.

"I am the avatar of the one you know as Franz Hopper. He sent me here to make contact with you for he could not make it himself. The good scientist thought a familiar setting would be less unnerving for you so he chose your old house and seeing as I'm…that is, _he_ was the man you were expecting to see he chose this form. Though I have added a few modifications." He posed for her. "A fine specimen, wouldn't you agree?"

Aelita stepped back. "Where is he? Why isn't he here?" She looked at herself. "And why am I like this?"

The avatar raised his hand. "You have many questions and I will attempt to answer them. That is why I'm here." He cleared his throat. "Ahem. Your father is currently doing battle with Xana on the Net. Xana's relentless in his pursuit but your father has always managed to stay two steps ahead of him. He's been trying to establish contact with you for some time but the fight has taken a dramatic turn for the worse and he must focus his attention elsewhere. He wants you to know that he is alright and will not let Xana win no matter what the cost."

"My daddy's fighting Xana?" She asked with brightening features.

"Yes. He is a brave man." The avatar said. "As for your appearance, it should not be a surprise to you. This _is_ what you really look, Aelita."

The woman did not understand so the avatar explained. "You were in Lyoko for ten years. When you first entered you were but a twelve-year old girl. Now you see yourself the way you would have been had you stayed out in the real world. You are a woman, Aelita. But being in Lyoko has slowed your aging process. While you did age a little, your physical form is still that of a young girl when in reality you are twenty-two years old."

"No." She said in disbelief. Yet it made sense all the same. Everyone always said she acted many times her age. This was why. She was supposed to be a woman! If Jeremie could see her now. "My father, can you take me to him?"

"I'm sorry. It's far too dangerous. He gave me explicit orders to keep you as far away from him as possible."

"But we need him. Xana has destroyed Lyoko. He's taken one of our friends and we don't know what to do."

"He knows."

"Then why doesn't he come? We can fight Xana together."

"Because there is something else you must do." Said the avatar. "Your battle lies elsewhere though it is just as important, if not more, than what your father is doing."

"What could be more important?"

The avatar looked away. Aelita followed his gaze to the television which turned on. It showed a large white building surrounded by a fence. "White House." He said.

"I don't understand." She told him.

"That's where it all began. If you want to know everything your father's done and why these things happened to you and him then you must look there."

"Why can't you just tell me."

"Because we're being watched."

"Xana?"

"No. Someone far worse."

_What could be worse than Xana?_

"To reveal such information would jeopardize everything your father had worked for. You must put a stop to White House before it's too late."

"Where is this White House?"

The avatar looked to the TV again. This time is showed a man about her father's age. He appeared of Middle Eastern descent. "This fellow is Ahmed Farad Al-Hakim. He worked with your father on a project many years ago. If anyone knows anything about White House it's him."

"Where is he?"

"His whereabouts are unknown. He went missing around the same time Franz Hopper escaped with you to Lyoko."

"Then how are we supposed to find him?"

"Find the rabbit hole."

Aelita cocked her head. "I'm sorry?"

"You must find the rabbit hole. Seek out the one thing your father prized above all else and it will lead you to Hakim. With his help, you should be able to undo the mistakes of the past." The avatar turned grim. "Destroy White House."

"Destroy? But why? How?"

"Find Hakim. That is all I can tell you."

"What is going on?"

"That is all I am at liberty to say, Miss Hopper. Keep in mind that you won't be alone in this hunt. Someone else is also looking for Hakim and the secrets to White House. Needless to say it will prove disastrous should they beat us to it." The avatar approached Aelita and placed his hands on both shoulders. "I know you don't fully understand, Aelita. But your father entrusts this task to you and your friends. You've proven yourselves time and again in your war with Xana. While he keeps Xana busy, you must destroy White House. He would never EVER ask this of you if there were another way or if the situation were not this dire. But these are dark times. Xana is fast becoming the least of our problems."

"But…" She tried to find an excuse to see her father. She wanted to be with him so bad. If only she could just touch him. Yet here he was standing before her and it may as well have been as if he were on another planet. This man was not her father. Still, he needed her help in defeating Xana. If destroying this White House is what it took then, "Okay."

"Excellent. Your father will be overjoyed when,"

The house shook. _"Aelita!"_ Jeremie's voice said.

"Jeremie." Aelita grasped the avatar for support as the house shook again.

"That little fool!" Said the avatar.

"Is he doing this?" She asked after another shock.

"No. Our enemies have piggybacked on his signal and have followed him here. We must terminate the connection before you are captured." The avatar rushed to a nearby drawer and rummaged through it. The house shook even more violently. The snow outside had ceased and flashes of lightning broke the windows. The television went dead, the lights flickered on and off. The avatar rushed back to Aelita with a key in hand. "Take this. Go upstairs to your room and use it to open the closet. It will take you back to the factory and your friends."

Aelita took the key. "Thank you."

"Go now! Please hurry!" He ushered her up the stairs.

Aelita took one last look at him, the man who looked like her father, and then rushed upstairs. The house was shaking so much now that it was difficult for her to keep her feet. She found her room at last and went inside. The furniture was all over the place. Aelita went for the closet and used the key. A light appeared and the door opened up. _"Aelita!"_

"Jeremie!" She cried and jumped inside just as the house exploded.

* * *

"Aelita!" Jeremie yelled. "Oh no." He had lost her. The transmission went dead. Where had he gone wrong? He finally found her only to lose her due to elements beyond his control. Once again he had failed her as a leader and as a friend.

The computer beeped again. "What the…" He traced the signal. "There!" He had found Aelita. "Hang on, Aelita. I'm going to rematerialize you." Jeremie typed away as fast as he could. When all was done he hit the magic button. "Materialization, Aelita!"

The boy jumped out of his chair and went straight for the elevator. He arrived at the scanner room just as the capsule opened up and a pink-haired girl fell out. "No." Jeremie went to her side. He lifted Aelita into his arms and tried to wake her. "Aelita, speak to me. Please."

She opened up her eyes. "Hello, Jeremie."

"I thought I'd lost you again."

She smiled. "You never lost me. We just took different forks in the road. But we're together again."

"Aelita, I'm so sorry for what I said. Activating the super computer and meeting you, Ulrich and the others was the best thing to have ever happened to me. I'm nothing without you."

She chuckled. "It's nice to hear you say that, but just so you know we all feel the same way about you."

Jeremie helped her to her feet. "Thanks, Aelita. But I have to ask. What happened." They walked toward the elevator. "One moment you were on my screen and the next you were gone."

"I went somewhere." She said.

"Where to?"

"Back home." She told him. "Jeremie, I have a lot to tell you."

* * *

**Author: Man that was tough. I didn't expect it to end this way. It was supposed to be only about Jeremie and Aelita but it turned out into a prequel to my Code Lyoko fic. Haven't thought up of a title yet, but I will soon. Hope you guys liked it and I can't wait to start on the story.**


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